Its raining and dark outside, yet RJ wants to get on the lake now. His new SMED Wombat came in and it is cool. It not only looks cool, but our old Wombat was a twin fin. This is a quad fin. On top of that, this is a 4wfs quad fin which allows all kinds of adjustment.

No, not mormon. It was always my dream to someday leave southern california and move somewhere in northern california near a big lake like shasta or something. When the housing market took off, we sold and ran, it was 2003. Moved to a small mountain community just east of Chico named Paradise. We are at about 3000 ft elevation and it is 9 miles from my driveway to the launch ramp at lime saddle marina for lake oroville. When we moved her I had 3 kids. Ashley (13), Whitney (12), and RJ (8). When we moved her we started to hear about this organization in Paradise called Youth for Change. They were in constant need of foster parents and adoptive parents due to the HUGE problem of neglect in Butte county as a result of Meth. We decided after a bit we would try to adopt 2 kids, that would normally be unadoptable. So we adopted a brother and sister, the girl was 6 and the boy was 3. I don't want to share their stories online, but if you read the reports, it would make any grown man cry. It was tough at first, we knew it would be. Best thing I ever did in my life. Very tough, and almost thought we wouldn't make it through at one point, but it seems like lately we are just reaping rewards. That was in April of 2004 when they came, and a little over a year later the state came to us with another little girl. We were not asking for any more, we didn't think we could handle any more. This little girl was born not only with meth in her system, but addicted to it as a baby. At first I said no, but when they told me that her father was african american, and that her mother rejected her from the moment she was born due to her color, I broke down. I can't believe it, I am watering up now. Up here in the mountains and in the chico area, its like 98% white. In my heart I just felt this little girl's only chance was to be protected by one big bad a$$ brown guy. I didn't even see her, but for some reason knew she was my daughter at that point. She wasn't supposed to be able to walk or talk, but they say love and stimulation to a brain of mush, from the meth, can actually be akin to brain surgery. New connections are made that were broken in the brain in the best conditions. All 3 of the kids are beautiful, doing great, and normal. Except for splints that Jesse has to wear on her legs due to muscle tone issues from meth, she is also normal. Its been an amazing ride. I can't handle any more, but I shudder when I think of "What if I said no?". These are my children, just like the first 3. They just came to me in a special way.

So I guess I should include some pictures, I mean, that is what I love to do.

Ashley, 17.

She doesn't take good shots surfing, always making weird faces, so I will include one more, she is a beautiful kid.

Whitney, 16. Whitney is always smiling and a big dork. She lightens up any room she enters.

You have met RJ 13.

Maddie, 10. Another goofball.

Thomas, 7. You can call him T-Bone. He loves living in RJs shadow but def has his own personality, quiet at first, then a goofball like the rest.

There there is Jesse , 3. She is the family mascot. She is adorable and nuts at the same time. Always knows exactly what she wants.

This is a great picture of Jesse, and shows who she is. She wants to surf, but knows she is too little. So she wants to prove she has what it takes. This was a 7am run in Lake Tulloch, the water was like 68. She insisted to jump in first, to prove she could before RJ.

Its been great to know you too. I have to say, at first, you feel like you are doing such a great thing, and doing the world and community such a great service. That goes away real quick, because after a while, you just feel so privileged that God has considered you worthy to raise these kids, and be a part of their lives. I don't feel like I am doing anything special anymore, I feel more like I won the lottery or something.

To those who haven't had the privilege to know the Garcia family they are the without doubt the model family. All of the older young adults are well mannered and very thankful for all they have. RJ helping T Bone at the contest from the back of the boat told the whole story. Now that I know the whole story you and Amy and the rest of the tribe are truly blessed.

Robert, thanks for sharing the story. It is awesome and you are so right, once you have them, it doesn't matter how you got them, they are your's and part of the family no matter what!!

On a side note, I got to meet Matt Smed today in Austin and ride a couple of his boards. We even dragged him out for a quick ride! he looked like he could use a break. The Smed board I rode had a quad fin set up and had a TON of drive. It was a little harder to break loose on top of the wave, but still managable. Lots of fun.

Robert -- really excited to see the pics of the fam and learn a little bit more about you. You and your wife have gigantic hearts and what looks to be a wonderful "crew".

Txsurf - this one is similar to the one you saw at Barrel Boss(similar airbrush job) but RJ's has the 4WFS adjustable quad set up instead of Futures.

Bob - you are right - it is hula-dek. I tape off the traction to protect it and it rolls on with a mini roller sponge.

Derek - really cool to meet you (finally) and get to see you rip it up a bit. Derek is a bit humble -- he got on my original wombat with the largest size quad fin setup and did some gnarley lipslides and then proceeded to do 2 or 3 360s pretty much back to back. Nice riding! With the smaller quad trailers (like the white ones pictured above) the board is still super drivey (fast down the line and good recovery from deep) but also breaks loose on the lip much easier...

Anyway -- looking forward to hearing more feedback as RJ plays around with the different configurations. The look on RJs face in the first pick is great!!

Wow, what an amazing and touching story. Every time I get down on society I hear stories like this that renew my faith in mankind. props to you. I wish your entire family the very best.

Smed- I really like the way your boards are coming along. I have tremendous respect for the path you've taken in designing new and unique shapes. Innovation is the key to this sport and I'm glad you're on board.

Yes, RJ knew it was coming. He kept checking for packages. We had a great time out today, tough wake, we were in a new place, the thermalito afterbay and it sometimes drops to less than 10 ft deep. Later in the day I found where I could stay in about 20 ft of water. RJ loved the board, it is very evident even from the boat it is much faster. We tried it with the green fins, and the small black, and then tried the small whites in back. Lost a lot of drive when we went to the small whites. RJ really liked the drive, but still has a lot of practice to get used to it. He is getting air, but not as much, and is not hitting his 360 very well, but close. We are going to go out 2 more times before the contest in castaic. It is late, but here is a real cool still from a video frame. We bought a sport housing for our sony hd cam and so we filmed from the water, it is very cool. Still have some work to do to get it just right. Here is the still.

Also, here is a quick video I put up of RJ after about 10 mins of riding it. You can see from his face and feedback he loves it. After that, you can see a cool from the water shot.

I'll be launching a houseboat on Oroville next spring. If we get rain and the water is up I'm supposed to go to Lime Saddle, if not I'll have to go to Bidwell until the lake comes up. Stop by and say hello. I'd like to meet you and your family and I am always looking for people to ride with.